Han official!

Chapter 172 Wei Bridge
On the banks of the Weishui River.

Dong Yan's bronze chariot rolled over the gravel on the banks of the Wei River, and the wheels made a harsh friction sound.

Three hundred conscripted soldiers tread the wet mud of the river bank, the morning dew condensed on their leather armor gleaming in the autumn sun.

These soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the border now had Dou's privately cast gold-inlaid tokens hanging around their waists.

"Does Guo Jie really think he can protect that lowly maid?"

Dong Yan inserted the jade sword into the gap of the shaft, and his fingertips stroked the rhinoceros horn military token he brought out from Changmen Garden.

The twenty crossbow carts behind the car were covered with sackcloth, and the deliberately aged copper emblem on the mountain overlooking the car was faintly visible in the bumpy ride.

The baggage that was burned when escaping from the Wei River Gorge three days ago has now been replenished with the hidden goods of the bandits in Guanzhong.

"Report——!"

The scouts' horses' hooves startled the waterfowl along the riverbank, and the mounted soldiers' crimson robes were stained with mud. "We've spotted a convoy ten miles ahead! Three chariots with green canopies, accompanied by fifty men, half of whom are armed with halberds!"

Dong Yan's fingernails left a crescent-shaped mark on the military talisman.

A guard of fifty people far exceeded the etiquette of an ordinary lady. It seemed that Wei, who was born a riding slave, was indeed quite favored.

He lifted the carriage curtain, the fishy, hot river breeze filling his lungs. "Send the message, the front team will exchange the bandits' flags."

Official road pass.

Guo Jie was sharpening his two swords on the shaft of the chariot, and sparks splashed on the arrows handed to him by Wei Guang.

The arsenal commander had already replaced his ten-stone bow with a new mulberry wood string and was currently wrapping a piece of linen soaked in fish oil around the shaft. "The ruts on the repeating crossbow are three inches deep. It must have been an old instrument modified by the Ministry of the Interior."

The carriage suddenly stopped, and Guo Jie's knife back was pressed against the back of the driver's neck.

"There's fallen trees on the road ahead!"

On the official road ten feet away, three giant willow trees crisscrossed each other, and the cuts of their bark were as smooth as a mirror.

Wei Guang's arrow suddenly pointed towards the reed marsh on the left: "Southeast wind."

Guo Jie's pupils suddenly shrank.

There shouldn't be southeast wind on the banks of the Wei River at this time of year!

"Whoosh!"

The moment the first rocket penetrated the car curtain, Guo Jie had already kicked open the car door.

The burning arrow shaft pierced the cushion he had just leaned on, and the burning silk emitted a pungent burnt smell.

Twenty crossbow chariots emerged from the reeds, and the crossbow arrows as thick as a baby's arm shot the three chariots into hedgehogs.

"Protect the lady through the west gate!"

Guo Jie crossed his two swords to block the two stray arrows, and the blades scraped sparks on the iron arrow shafts.

Wei Guang's whistling arrows pierced through the crossbowmen's throats, guiding the chaotic guards.

Fifty guards holding spears formed a circle, protecting the blue-covered chariot in the center and retreating towards the river.

"Don't run away, bandits!"

Amidst deafening shouts and cries of killing, three hundred "bandits" poured out from both sides of the official road.

The warriors at the front were wearing rhinoceros armor, and the shoulder armor was clearly branded with the armory's fish scale pattern.

Guo Jie's sword flashed like a sharp sword, cutting off the two long spears that were stabbing at the chariot, and warm blood sprayed on the Vermillion Bird pattern on the shaft.

"They are not bandits." Wei Guang's arrow tip lifted the mask of the assassin, and the tattooed words "Longxi" caught his eye.

These are the soldiers from the Longxi Camp who fled while guarding the border last year!
Dong Yan's chariot stopped on the battlefield filled with smoke, and his fingertips stroked the sword marks on the shaft.

Twenty steps away, three crossbow carts were loading the second round of arrows. The copper emblem on the crossbow mechanism was filed flat by him, and now it reflected a ghostly figure.

"Guo Jie!"

The moment the jade sword was unsheathed, the two swords had already cut through the ox-tendon strings of the two crossbow carts.

Blood seeped from the thirteen tears in Guo Jie's brown clothes, but his eyes were colder than the autumn water of the Wei River.

Just as the soldier on the last crossbow cart was about to pull the trigger on his sword, Wei Guang's whistling arrow had already pierced his right wrist.

"Kill him! Ten gold coins for the reward!"

Dong Yan's roar was drowned out by the sound of metal colliding.

The ring-handled swords of the five assassins formed a sword net. Guo Jie suddenly ducked and rolled over, and the sword light cut the tendons of the two men from bottom to top.

He blocked the third man's attack with the back of his knife and stabbed him into the gap in the laces under his leather armor with his backhand.

"Clang!"

The jade sword and the ring-handled knife collided, and Dong Yan's knuckles were cracked.

The male favorite kept by Princess Guantao finally showed fear.

Guo Jie's swordsmanship was not as fancy as that of the noble warriors; each move was tempered from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the border counties.

"Wei Zifu is doomed!" Dong Yan suddenly smirked, and from his blood-stained sleeve slipped a half-tigress seal: "Look behind you!"

The neighing of war horses came from the riverside, and twenty Longxi light cavalry broke through the beacon smoke.

These defeated soldiers, who were supposed to be fighting at the border, now had standard quivers from the Guanzhong arsenal hanging next to their saddles.

Wei Guang's quiver had already been emptied, so he pulled out the railing of the carriage and used it as a long weapon.

"boom!"

Guo Jie's sword handle smashed Dong Yan's jade crown, and when the other party rolled and hid under the car, his two swords spun and cut off the front hooves of two war horses.

The third rider's long spear brushed past his left shoulder, and before the blood droplets fell to the ground, he was stabbed off his horse by Wei Guang's wooden pole.

"southwest!"

Wei Guang’s roar shocked Guo Jie’s heart.

The green-covered carriage was forced to the cliff by the river, with its wheels half hanging in the air.

The harpoons of the three assassins pierced the chests of the last two guards, and the bloody blades were only three feet away from the chariot curtain.

"boom!"

The broken knife thrown by Guo Jie pierced through the chest of the leading assassin, and the remaining force nailed him and his armor to a dead tree on the edge of the cliff.

He leaped over the fighting crowd, split the wooden handle of the harpoon with his second knife, and kicked the attacker into the abyss.

Wei Guang's whistling arrow quiver smashed heavily on the last man's temple, and the sound of the skull breaking was clearly audible.

Dong Yan's bronze chariot started at this time, and the whips of the assassins driving the chariot made the four horses foam at the mouth.

Guo Jie pulled out the ring-handled sword from the edge of the cliff, and with a flash of sword light like a rainbow, he cut off the bridles of the two horses on the left.

The out-of-control chariot brushed past Wei Zifu's carriage, leaving a deep gully on the edge of the cliff.

“See you later.”

At the moment before falling off the cliff, the caltrops that flew out of Dong Yan's sleeves carved a Vermillion Bird pattern on the carriage.

When Guo Jie's knife tip knocked away the last three hidden weapons, the bronze chariot had already turned into pieces in the waves of the Wei River.

Wei Guang used an arrow to pry open the leather armor of the assassin, and found a new character "Dou" next to the "Longxi" tattoo on his armpit.

Guo Jie wrapped the blood-stained cloth around the hilt of his sword and looked at the wreckage of the chariot floating in the river. "He deliberately brought these rebels to die."

Nagato Garden, thirty miles away.

Dusk permeates the high slopes of Weibei, and bronze goose and fish lanterns cast fine shadows in the garden.

Chen Ajiao's rhinoceros horn comb slowly passed through her hair bun, and the nine golden hairpins hanging from the eastern pearls lightly touched her ears.

The gold-inlaid copper box on the lacquer table was half open, and a private jade seal in the box was emitting a faint light. The seal button was carved into the shape of a vermilion bird flapping its wings, and the four characters "Dou Shi Changmen" in seal script on the seal were soaked in cinnabar, as red as blood.

Dong Yan knelt on the blue brick floor wrapped in a soaked black robe, the lacquered wooden box in his arms constantly seeping with water stains.

He held up half the carriage curtain in his hands, the gold-threaded Vermilion Bird pattern swollen from the river water. "My Queen, the carriage has overturned in the bend of the Wei River. I saw with my own eyes the Wei family's jade hairpin sink to the bottom of the river!"

Chen Ajiao's armor knocked against the edge of the copper box, and her fingertips lifted the broken part of the carriage curtain.

The double braid has fine and even stitches, which is the special weaving method provided by the Shaofu Supervisor.

Three days ago, she gave Wei Zifu a sacrificial garment made of this kind of tribute brocade from Yue.

The tip of the Vermilion Bird's beak on the jade hairpin in the lacquer box was broken, and the broken end was covered with the unique blue-gray silt of the Wei River.

"The water is turbulent, and the corpse must have been swept downstream." Dong Yan's jade crown was dripping with water, and his forehead was stained with reed debris. "When I found this hairpin on the riverbank, the end of the hairpin was wrapped around half of a plain gauze Zen robe..."

He took two steps on his knees, and a muddy jade seal slipped out of his sleeve. The seal's seal characters "Wei Shi Zi Fu" were soaked with cinnabar, and a piece of unmelted sealing mud was still stuck on the edge.

The teeth of Chen Ajiao's rhinoceros horn comb scraped across the edge of the jade seal.

The remaining patterns on the seal fit perfectly with the seal button of the private seal of "Dou Shi Changmen".

Three days ago, she personally used this seal to seal the ancestral worship documents, but now Wei Zifu's private seal was fished out from the bottom of the river, and the cinnabar on the seal had not faded at all.

Chen Ajiao's red shoes rolled over the pearls all over the ground, and her nine golden hairpins fluttered at her temples.

She raised the cup, the amber-colored Lanling wine reflecting Dong Yan's flattering smile: "That lowly servant didn't survive after all!"

In the gap between the blue bricks under the lacquer table, half a piece of sealing mud was leaking water.

The tips of the Suzaku pattern feathers on the mud block were slightly raised, and under the candlelight, it looked like flapping wings.

This was a flaw that Chong Huangrou deliberately left on the riverbank, but the edges had long been washed away by the Wei River.

Dong Yan's two-foot sword was retracted into his sleeve, and the inscription "Heyi Gongguan" on the sword guard shone coldly in the shadows.

When the last drop of water from the clepsydra ran out, three drum beats were heard from the direction of the Wei River.

The Insect Emperor stood softly on the wreckage of the shipwreck and threw his soaked white gauze Zen robe into the rapids.

The cinnabar faded in the twilight, and the newly stamped seal "Wei Shi Zi Fu" gradually appeared.

That bright red color was drifting silently along the Wei River towards Pingyang County.

The banks of the Wei River at this time.

Chong Huangrou stood up from the reed marsh, her long black skirt soaked with river water and hung heavy around her waist.

He wiped off the ochre powder-mixed disguise glue on his face, revealing his original eyebrows and eyes.

The wreckage of the carriage on the shore was slowly sinking, and the needle-carved inscription "He Yi Gong Guan" on the shaft was corroded by salt water to form honeycomb-like holes.

The real private seal of Wei Zifu slipped out from the secret compartment of her belt, and the tip of the Vermillion Bird's beak on the green jade seal button was shining with a faint light.

He casually threw the imitation jade hairpin into the rapids, and the eighth bird feather hidden at the end of the hairpin flashed on the water surface.

The hairpin that the Shaofujian had made last month was supposed to have only seven tail feathers.

Dusk dyed the hills of Pingyang County. In front of the Wei family's ancestral tomb, shaded by pines and cypresses, bronze goose and fish lamps cast tiny shadows on the altar.

Wei Qing, wearing a black-edged straight-hem robe, kneels on a straw mat. A wooden scissors and a bamboo slip of laws and decrees hang from a belt around his waist. The official script "Second Year Laws and Decrees" is clearly visible at the end of the slip.

In the distance came the sound of a cart rolling over gravel, and his fingertips brushed the lacquer box on the table.

Inside lay a half-broken jade hairpin, with a newly carved crack hidden among the seven bird feathers at the end of the hairpin.

"Brother."

Wei Zifu's white gauze Zen robe brushed against the wild chrysanthemums in front of the grave, and the jade hairpin in her hair glowed faintly in the twilight.

She placed the remains of the lacquered wooden carriage shaft on the altar. The needle-carved inscription "He Yi Gong Guan" on the shaft had been scratched away. "Chen Ajiao thought that by replacing the documents with those from the Supervisor of the Imperial Household, she could prove my drowning death. But she forgot that the Law on Thieves states: 'Those who forge the seal of the Marquis of Che shall be executed.'"

Wei Qing pulled out the scroll of laws and decrees. The sound of the bamboo slips flipping mingled with the sound of pine trees. "The Law on Arresting also states: 'Those who forge laws and commit crimes shall be executed in public.' She had Dong Yan secretly mobilize the county troops to intercept and kill the lady's carriage. This crime is enough to execute her entire clan."

His eyes swept over the eighth bird feather hidden at the end of the hairpin. It was a flaw that Guo Jie had ordered the craftsman to carve in beforehand. "Guo Jie does understand the law."

In the pavilion of Pingyang Township, Guo Jie leaned against a lacquered wooden table, his fingertips etching a wooden tablet with salt water.

The scroll of "Two Years' Laws and Regulations" spread out on the table was yellowed by the smoke of an oil lamp. The chapter on "Accusing the Law" was highlighted in cinnabar: "Anyone who wishes to accuse a criminal should go to the township pavilion and speak in person."

"Mr. Guo, you have a refined taste." Wei Qing's voice came from outside the door. He held the broken shaft of a cart in his hand, the broken part revealing the wooden core swollen by salt water. "The Golden Code states that 'salt vessels should be loaded with earthenware jars.' Chen Ajiao used sacks instead to avoid paying the transportation fee. This is ready-made evidence of her guilt."

Guo Jie pushed over the etched wooden tablet with the inscription "Weishui Pavilion." "According to the Household Law, the Pavilion Chief is responsible for carefully keeping records of the household. I've asked Chong Huangrou to disguise herself as a patrol officer and check the salt transport records of the Supervisor of the Imperial Household tomorrow."

He ran his fingertips over the cracks on the edge of the wooden tablet.

This is a deliberate imitation of an old document, with the edges still clinging to the Wei River's unique blue-gray silt.

Wei Qing pulled out his knife and carved the characters "Dou Shi Chang Men" into the broken shaft. "The Law on Thieves states that 'thieves who steal books will be thrown into the market.' Since she dared to forge documents from the Ministry of Finance, we will give her solid evidence of 'book theft.'"

The blade suddenly stopped at the last stroke of the word "门": "It's just this jade hairpin."

"The hairpin the Shaofu Supervisor made last month was supposed to have seven feathers." Guo Jie lifted the lacquer-handled cup, the amber-colored Lanling wine reflecting the firelight. "I had one extra feather carved, then deliberately broke the eighth and threw it on the riverbank. According to the Xiaolu Law, 'Workers who offer unsatisfactory goods will be fined two armors.' This is enough to make the Shaofu Supervisor drink bitterly."

In front of the ancestral tomb.

Wei Zifu threw the scraped shaft of the cart into the fire, and the flames devoured the inscription on the "He Yi Gong Guan": "The Household Law stipulates that 'the sale of land and property on behalf of a householder must be subject to the investigation of the township and the farm steward.' The 100 hectares of private land that Chen Ajiao forcibly purchased in Yunmeng Township should be thoroughly investigated by the farm steward."

Wei Qing added a handful of pine branches to the fire, and the smoke twisted like the seal characters on the scroll of laws and decrees: "Guo Jie is well versed in the essence of the 'Accusation Law.' 'Anyone who wishes to report a criminal should go to the township pavilion and speak in person.' Tomorrow, Chong Huangrou, this 'patrolman,' will go to the Weishui Pavilion and sit down. Someone will come and report the dirty deeds of the Shaofu Supervisor."

The firelight illuminated the newly erected boundary stone in front of the tomb, and the four characters "Wei Shi Qian Mo" carved on the stone still had fresh chisel marks.

Wei Zifu stroked the rough stone surface with her bare hands. "When our mother brought my sister and I here to escape, she never imagined we could use the Household Law to keep these three mu of meager farmland."

Her hosta suddenly pointed southeast.

That was the direction of Changmen Garden: "Chen Ajiao probably doesn't know that there is a clause in the "Law of Thieves" called "Crime of Throwing Letters."

Guo Jie's laughter mixed with the cry of a night owl could be heard.

He carried the wine jar across the ridges of the fields, the wooden tablets hanging from his belt jingling as he walked. "The Prison Law states: 'To impeach someone without careful investigation is a mistake; to deliberately impeach someone for a minor offense is unjust.' Tomorrow, as the 'Weishui Pavilion Master,' I must carefully examine those 'mistakes' and 'unjust'."

Wei Qing broke the mud seal on the wine jar and poured the turbid wine into the fire, which set off a raging flame.

The shadows of the three people overlap and intertwine on the book of laws and regulations, as if the three chapters of "Accusation", "Arrest" and "Impeachment" in the "Two-Year Laws and Regulations" are concrete.

The sound of drums came from the Wei River in the distance, mixed with the shouts of Chong Huangrou as he inspected the salt ships.

The sounds of the laws were flowing along the Wei River towards Chang'an.

On the banks of the Wei River, Chong Huangrou was collecting evidence. Next to the wreckage of the sunken carriage on the shore, half a piece of soaked sealing mud was swaying with the waves.

The seal characters of "Dou Shi Changmen" on the mud have become blurred by soaking, but they are enough to prove the death penalty of "forging a seal" in the "Second Year Law: The Law on Thieves".

The pine branches in the fire pit emitted a few final sparks, and Chong Huangrou's golden knife suddenly lifted up a half-scorched scroll. "The Stable Law also states, 'For every horse injured, there is a fine of one shield.' The thirty post horses Dong Yan forcibly conscripted last month are now all tied up in the Yunyang Stables, losing weight."

The blade gouged a hole in the word "stable": "This crime is enough to punish him with thirty shields!"

Yan Yi leaned over and picked up the scattered fragments of the "Golden Cloth Code." "According to the law, one dong is worth a thousand coins. I'm afraid the Shaofu Supervisor can't even pay back the salt and iron monies he's embezzled over the years."

He suddenly used a knife to carve a counting rod symbol on the lacquer table: "If we use the law of calculation, 'if the amount is too high, the fine is four taels'"

"Master Yan is quite good at settling accounts." Guo Jie suddenly splashed salt water onto the map, revealing new traces of the etched Wei River. "There's a patch of silted farmland on the north bank of Dongwei Bridge. According to the Land Law, 'those who illegally move across the fields must redeem them.' Dong Yan forcibly demolished the farmland to smuggle salt. I've had the farm steward re-erect ten boundary markers."

Chong Huangrou's fox fur coat swept the earthenware pot off the table, and the wine spread across the three characters "Dongwei Bridge." "Tomorrow at noon, the tide will rise to the third bridge pier. According to the Equal Transport Law, 'any grain transport vessel with a draft exceeding three stone will be fined two taels.' Dong Yan's ships, laden with illegal salt, must have a draft of at least five stone!"

Yan Yi suddenly pulled out a copy of the Jinguan Order: "The Jinguan Order states that 'if a ship's cargo exceeds the limit, the customs officials may confiscate the cargo.' We'll have Chong Huangrou disguised as a customs official to board the ship and inspect it."

"And then 'accidentally' discovered three hundred crossbows hidden beneath the cabin!" Chong Huangrou's knife tip gleamed coldly across the table. "The Garrison Law states, 'Anyone who privately possesses five or more weapons will be beheaded.' This idiot is probably going to impose the death penalty on everyone in the Supreme Court."

The night wind blew hard outside the window, making the "Household Law" scroll rustle.

Guo Jie suddenly stopped the flying bamboo slips. "The salt merchants of Yunyang Township filed a complaint with the county court today, saying that Dong Yan injured someone while forcibly requisitioning a civilian ship. The Law on Bandits states, 'If someone is injured in a fight, he shall be fined for a day's work."

"That captain under his command is more than just 'a city guard,'" Yan Yi flipped open the fragments of the "Law of Insults." "According to the clause 'bandits who injure others shall be crucified,' he shall be torn to pieces and displayed to the public." Chong Huangrou suddenly ripped open the sash, and dozens of "Dou Family Changmen" seals clattered to the ground. "I've hidden two hundred fake seals in a secret compartment under the bridge. If a garrison 'accidentally' discovers them—according to the "Law of Thieves," 'those who forge seals shall be executed.' That would be enough to make Chen Ajiao weep."

Guo Jie used a razor to poke a hole in the map. "South of Dongwei Bridge stands an abandoned warehouse. According to the Warehouse Law, 'damage to a warehouse worth more than a hundred coins will result in a fine of one jia.' Dong Yan tore down the warehouse roof to hide his smuggled salt."

"That broken warehouse roof is worth at least ten thousand coins!" Chong Huangrou laughed, shaking the dust off the eaves with his Hehuan Bell. "It's enough for him to be rich for a hundred armors!"

Yan Yi suddenly stood up, his black skirt sweeping across the fire pit. "Tomorrow at 3:30 am, when the tide reaches the third layer of stone slabs on the bridge piers, according to the Corvée Law, 'canal repairs should be done in the third month of spring.' Now it's deep autumn, the water is cold, and the garrison soldiers will surely be reluctant to wade in and inspect."

"It's just right for my patrolmen to take the salt merchants and report them." Chong Huangrou's golden knife split the seal of the wine jar and poured the muddy wine onto the seal of the "Dou Family Changmen". "These fake seals will fade when exposed to water, revealing the real seal of the "Shaofu Supervisor" underneath. Dong Yan can't explain it even if he has a mouth full of words!"

Guo Jie suddenly threw the broken shaft of the chariot into the fire pit. The flames engulfed the inscription on the "Heyi Gongguan": "The Law of Engineering states, 'Those who fail to meet the standards for making tools shall be fined two armors.' The one hundred crossbow mechanisms made by the Shaofu Supervisor last month all failed to meet the standards. Tomorrow, I will have them inspected by the Supreme Court."

The cry of a night owl tore through the silence, and the fox fur coat of the Insect Emperor Rou rustled in the wind.

He suddenly tore off half of a silk painting. In it, Dong Yan was directing county soldiers to transport contraband salt. "According to the Theft Law, 'Anyone who steals more than 660 coins will be branded and sentenced to life imprisonment.' The salt bag in this painting must be worth at least 10,000 coins!"

Yan Yi picked up the scroll of "Prisoner Laws" and said, "When the time comes, I will take this painting to the Supreme Court. According to the rule that 'impeaching someone without conducting a trial is a mistake,' none of those termites in the Ministry of the Interior will escape."

As the fire gradually died down, the three men's shadows stretched longer and longer across the scroll of laws and decrees. Suddenly, Guo Jie used salt water to draw a final streak of the Wei River on the lacquer table: "Tomorrow, when the tide recedes, the evidence against Dong Yan will resemble this Wei River mud."

"There are so many that we can't dig them all out." Chong Huangrou's golden knife was nailed to the table, and the handle made a last clear sound in the dead silence.

The light and shadow of the bronze goose and fish lamp were shattered on the blue brick floor, and Chen Ajiao's rhino horn comb stopped in mid-air.

The string of eastern pearls hanging from the nine golden hairpins suddenly broke, and the jade beads on the ground rolled over the edge of the gold-inlaid copper box.

"You said the Wei family's carriage appeared at Dongwei Bridge?"

The teeth of the rhinoceros horn comb scraped across the lacquer table, making a harsh sound on the inlaid gold patterns.

The Dou family retainer kneeling at the bottom of the steps had his robe stained with reed debris, and the lacquered wooden box in his arms was still leaking water, with half of his plain gauze Zen robe visible through the gap in the box lid.

"I saw it with my own eyes." The retainer pressed his forehead against the blue brick. "Although the inscription 'He Yi Gong Guan' on the shaft of the chariot is scratched, the gold thread of the chariot curtain was braided with a double-strand needle."

He opened the lacquer box, and the water-soaked tribute brocade from Yue shone dimly in the candlelight. "It's the same sacrificial garment that the Shaofu Supervisor sent to Pingyang three days ago."

Chen Ajiao's bare shoes rolled over the Dongzhu beads on the ground, and her armor suddenly pierced the broken part of the brocade: "Dong Yan!"

The shadow of a dark-skinned man emerged from behind the corridor pillar, and the inscription "He Yi Gong Guan" on the two-foot-long sword guard in Dong Yan's sleeve was faintly visible.

He knelt beside the retainer and presented the soaked white gauze Zen robe with both hands: "I have checked and found this item among the wreckage of the carriage."

"This is the Zen robe that Wei Zifu wore when she offered sacrifices to her ancestors." Chen Ajiao's fingertips traced the dark patterns on the lapel, and suddenly she tore open the interlayer. Fine cinnabar mixed with reed fluff fell down. "What a sin of 'losing the book'!"

Dong Yan took two steps on his knees and pulled out half a tortoise shell from his sleeve. "The Imperial Astronomical Bureau fished this out from the Wei River this morning. The back of the shell has Wei's birthday engraved on it."

A faint cinnabar-painted Big Dipper pattern can be seen within the cracks in the tortoise shell. "This seems to align with the stipulation in the Thief Law that 'those who perform rituals against witches and sorcerers will be beheaded.'"

"Not enough." Chen Ajiao's armor knocked against the bronze box. "Dongwei Bridge is only thirty miles away from Chang'an. I'm afraid that the slave girl has already crossed the Wei River by now."

She suddenly overturned the lacquer table, and her white gauze Zen robe fluttered down on the retainer's face. "Where do you think the carriage is going?"

The retainer bowed his head and said, "I followed the carriage to the bend of the Wei River and saw it turn onto the official road to Yunyang Township."

He slipped a jade hairpin out of his sleeve and said, "I found this at the fork in the road."

The broken tip of the Vermilion Bird's beak on the hairpin was stained with the unique blue-gray silt of the Wei River.

Dong Yan suddenly snatched the jade hairpin. "The jade hairpin the Supervisor of the Imperial Household made last month was supposed to have seven feathers." He traced the crack in the eighth feather with his fingertips. "The 'Xiao Lu' says, 'If the workman presents an artifact that is not up to standard, he shall be fined two ranks.' This is the extra feather."

"It was a flaw that Wei deliberately left behind." Chen Ajiao's nine-branched golden hairpin made a sound of shattering jade. "Since she wants to pretend to be dead, I will make her die for real!"

Chen Ajiao kicked over the gilded bronze box, and the jade seal rolled to Dong Yan's knees. "Use this 'Dou Family' seal to seal the accusation. Then go to the Ministry of the Treasury to get three blank talismans. They must be stamped with the Vermillion Bird seal used for the Autumn Festival."

Dong Yan's fingers holding the seal trembled slightly: "To mobilize troops, you need the tiger talisman."

"Tiger Tally?" Chen Ajiao suddenly chuckled, and the pearls hanging from the nine golden hairpins brushed across Dong Yan's cheek.

She opened her collar, revealing a half-tiger talisman dangling from a red gold necklace. The inlaid gold inscription, "Weishui Duwei," shone with blood. "Three years ago, my dowry included more than just this."

The retainer suddenly looked up and said, "The Garrison Law states that 'five hundred garrisons may be stationed at dangerous and narrow passes in the grain transport system', but only at the Dongwei Bridge."

"There are three hundred powerful crossbows hidden in the abandoned warehouse north of the bridge," Dong Yan added. "Add to that the post horses forcibly requisitioned from the Yunyang Stables. The Stable Law states that 'privately using more than twenty post horses is punishable by the same crime as stealing soldiers.' That should be more than enough to gather a thousand soldiers for the garrison."

Chen Ajiao's rhinoceros horn comb suddenly broke, its teeth half nailed to the blue brick in front of the guest. "Before midnight, I want to see the Dou banner raised over Dongwei Bridge." She threw the bloody half of the comb at Dong Yan, "Go mobilize the troops. If you encounter any resistance."

The two-foot sword flashed with a cold light, and the "Law on Thieves" on the corner of the case was neatly cut off three inches: "It is said that the search for those who are involved in witchcraft and sorcery will be carried out according to the clause of 'Those who pass through the night ban will be beheaded'."

"promise."

When Dong Yan's forehead touched the ground, a small lacquered wooden box slipped out of his sleeve.

The two talismans in the box were already sealed with the Vermillion Bird Seal, with dotted lines drawn with cinnabar in the blank spaces. These were the salt-selling certificates specially provided by the Shaofu Supervisor.

Dong Yan stood at the head of Dongwei Bridge, watching the red-capped garrison soldiers swarm across the official road like ants. The garrison commander at the front held a two-meter-long wooden sign. Beneath the four large vermilion characters "Follow the Law and Arrest the Evildoer" was a smudge of wet clay, engraved with the words "Dou Family Changmen".

"There are three teams left." The servant appeared like a ghost in the shadow of the bridge pillar. "The post horses from Yunyang Stables are gathering on the south side of the bridge."

Dong Yan stroked the broken edge of the tiger talisman: "What Empress Chen wants is to die without any evidence."

He suddenly threw the talisman into the Wei River, and the cinnabar-soaked seal left a bloody mark on the river's surface: "Let the garrison soldiers 'accidentally' discover the crossbow trigger when they pass by the abandoned warehouse."

Suddenly, the clear sound of imperial bells was heard from the other side of the river.

A half-broken jade hairpin slipped out of the servant's sleeve. The eighth feather at the end of the hairpin shone an eerie blue in the moonlight. "The Wei family's carriage has already crossed the river bend."

Dong Yan's two-foot-long sword carved a deep mark into the bridge railing: "At three quarters past midnight, set fire to the bridge."

He looked towards Chang'an. The bronze goose and fish lanterns in Changmen Garden were flickering in the night, like the eyes of a beast choosing its prey.

Ba Ling Posthouse.

When Guo Jie's ring-handled sword split the window frame of the post station, Wei Guang was using a scissor knife to scratch three bloody marks on the bamboo book of "Gun Law".

The postmaster's body lay across the porch, the "Dou" token in his hand still dripping with black blood.

"The remains of a chariot were found thirty miles away." Anguo Shaoji shook off the reed fluff from his Xiezhi crown, and a half-broken jade hairpin slipped out from the secret compartment of his waist belt. "The gold thread of the chariot curtain is a double-braided needlework, the same as the sacrificial robes sent by the Shaofu Supervisor last month."

Wei Guang lifted the jade hairpin with the tip of his knife. The crack in the eighth feather at the end of the hairpin was embedded with gray mud. "Dong Yan, this fellow knows how to choose a place."

He suddenly cut open the belt of the postmaster's robe, revealing the brand of "He Yi Gong Guan" on his waist. "The river at Ba Ling Ferry is narrow. According to the Law on Bandits, 'those who block the waterway will be executed.'"

"He's not planning to flood the river." Guo Jie pulled open the post station map and pointed his finger at the bend of the Ba River. "My lady, your carriage will cross the floating bridge."

In the swirl marked with cinnabar on the map, the outline of the sunken ship can be vaguely seen, outlined by ink stains.

The dripping of water in the copper leak suddenly slowed down.

Anguo Shaoji pulled out half a plain gauze Zen robe from his sleeve. "The wife of the Weiqiao magistrate said that Dong Yan took away thirty crossbows this morning." The silver thread on the lapel gleamed coldly in the candlelight. "They said it was to repair the altar of Ba Ling in accordance with the Sacrifice Law."

"Repairing the altar?" Wei Guang sneered, chopping off the corner of the altar with his ring-handled sword. "I'm afraid he's going to use his crossbow to offer a 'sacrifice to heaven' for Madam's carriage!"

On the bamboo slips swept by the blade, the seal characters of "Thief Law of the Second Year" "Those who plot to murder the prince will be crucified" were split into two halves.

Guo Jie suddenly grabbed the postmaster's left hand. The calluses on the thumb joint were as thick as copper coins. He said, "These calluses are from years of gripping the crossbow."

He pried open his stiff fingers, revealing black plaster embedded in the lines of his palms. "The Supervisor of the Imperial Household lost three hundred kilograms of plaster last month, according to the Golden Cloth Law."

"According to the Jinbu Code, he should be executed." An Guo Shaoji's whisk brushed the map, drawing a circle around the river bend. "I had my wife get the warehouse clerk at Weiqiao drunk, and fifty crossbows are missing from the warehouse."

He suddenly lowered his voice, "But Dong Yan only mentioned thirty, leaving twenty."

The shadows of the three people overlapped on the "Guardian Law" book to form the shape of an eagle.

Wei Guang suddenly cut his fingertip and drew five bloody lines on the map: "There are five secret outposts on the cliffs on both sides of Ba Ling Ferry, each of which can hide four crossbows."

The copper kettle dripped suddenly with a hollow sound.

Guo Jie untied his sash, and twelve bronze tokens jingled to the ground. "The Crown Prince's guards have disguised themselves as salt merchants and are lying in ambush on the south bank, but they need a warrant from the Armory Commander to deploy the large yellow crossbows."

"Here's the warrant." Wei Guang tore open the lining of his robe. A blood-stained silk scroll was stamped with the arsenal seal. "According to the Garrison Law, 'In times of emergency, the Three Dukes may mobilize the county troops.'"

He suddenly dipped a corner of the silk book into the lamp oil and said, "It's just this wax seal."

An Guo Shao Ji suddenly opened the window bolt.

The sound of carriage bells rang out through the morning mist, and the word "Wei" was faintly visible on the gilded curtains: "Madam, your carriage has departed."

Suddenly, thunder sounded from the direction of the Ba River.

Wei Guang's knife carved a deep groove into the map: "There is an abandoned warehouse on the cliff on the south bank. According to the law of levying, 'the person in charge of a government warehouse that is damaged shall be fined and punished.'"

The tip of the knife pierced the mark on the top of the warehouse, "If the big yellow crossbow is fired from there."

"Not enough." Guo Jie threw the tiger talisman into the brazier. "Dong Yan buried ointment in the river."

He tore open the postmaster's sash, and twenty fire sticks scattered to the ground. "Ointment will burn when it comes into contact with water."

As the morning light pierced the window paper, the horses neighed from the stables of the post station.

An Guo Shao Ji pointed to a certain spot on the map and said, "Here the reeds are taller than the shafts of the carts. According to the Land Law, 'any reed taller than one foot will be beheaded'"—"The tail of the fly whisk swept across a blank space, "but if you hide twenty large yellow crossbows..."

Amid the roar of the Ba River, the three men's final laughter mingled with the sound of flipping pages of the "Two-Year Laws and Regulations."

When Guo Jie's horse's hooves crushed the threshold of the post station, Wei Guang was painting every part of Ba Ling Ferry on the wall with blood.

Dongwei Bridge.

When Guo Jie's horse hooves stepped onto the bridge, Dong Yan's two-foot sword was striking the bronze crossbow with a crisp sound.

Thirty crossbows were stuck in the gaps between the carved railings of the bridge, and the poisoned arrowheads reflected the cold light of Guo Jie's red fish-scale armor.

"Doctor Guo, are your ribs still hurting?" The golden scarlet bird on Dong Yan's dark brown robe trembled with laughter. "Back in Chen County, the sight of you curled up in the snow, coughing up blood, was much more amusing than this heroic expression you have now."

Guo Jie tapped the bluestones of the bridge with his scabbard, shaking off the grease embedded in the cracks. "Yuezhe Dong is indeed nostalgic."

He crushed the saltpeter with the toe of his boot, and the smell of the ointment mixed with the river breeze hit him in the face. "Even the location where the ointment was buried is exactly the same as when we robbed the salt ship."

Dong Yan suddenly pulled open his left sleeve, revealing the hideous scar on his forearm that looked like a centipede. "Thanks to you!"

The two-foot-long sword tip stirred up the waves of the Ba River. "But this time, I'm not going to burn the salt ship." The sword pointed at the pig bladder floating under the bridge. "Three hundred kilograms of gypsum oil mixed with whale blubber is enough to make the entire Dongwei Bridge fly into the sky!"

"Just like what you did in the Chen County warehouse three years ago?" Guo Jie suddenly threw out a half-charred wooden slip. The cinnabar seal of "Dou's Salt Permit" on it was badly damaged. "What a pity that the documents from the Shaofu Supervisor this time."

He stomped his boots hard on the bridge, shaking the sacks in the hidden compartment. "It's filled with reeds soaked in kerosene!"

Dong Yan's laughter stopped abruptly.

Amid the creaking sound of the crossbow, the sack kicked by Guo Jie split open in mid-air, sending dry reed fluff flying like snow. "Didn't Chen Ajiao tell you?"

He pierced the falling reed catkins with his scabbard. "The Imperial Household Supervisor was shut down by the Wuku Ling last night. All that kerosene you had..." The tip of the knife suddenly pointed at the abandoned warehouse on the south bank. "I replaced it all with the rouge and powder that the Weiqiao Ling's wife sent me!"

"Shut up!" Dong Yan's two-foot sword chopped off the bridge railing, sending splinters of wood splattering into the rapids. "Do you think you can turn the tables with just Wei Guang's few private soldiers?"

He suddenly opened his shirt, revealing a full map of the Ba Ling Ferry tattooed on his chest. "Twelve secret sentries, thirty large yellow crossbows, I will reduce Wei Zifu's chariot to ashes."

Guo Jie suddenly threw out a half-bronze tiger talisman. The inscription "Weishui Duwei" on the talisman was stuck in the vortex marked on Dong Yan's map. "Didn't Chen Ajiao teach you?" He stepped heavily on the crack of the tiger talisman with his boot heel. "A stolen military talisman is not even worthy of commanding civilians!"

The river wind suddenly blew hard, and Dong Yan's jade crown was blown askew.

He suddenly raised the fire stick with a fierce smile: "Then we will die together!"

The firelight illuminated the densely packed pig bladders at the bottom of the bridge. "Let the clause in the Thief Law, 'Those who conspire for rebellion shall be burned to death,' serve as a witness for you and me!"

Guo Jie, however, clapped his hands and laughed: "Master Dong, why don't you lower your head and take a look?"

He suddenly struck the bridge pillar with his scabbard-shaped sword, and the sound waves shattered the nearest pig bladder.

What gushed out was not black ointment, but chalk powder mixed with the scent of rouge. "Madam Zheng, whom you placed beside the Weiqiao Commander, personally changed the kerosene formula last night on the couch of Anguo Shaoji."

The river wind blew chalk powder onto Dong Yan's face, staining his dark black clothes pale.

Guo Jie kicked up the broken stones from the bridge, and they struck the crossbow on Wangshan Mountain, sending sparks flying. "Back then, for your own selfish desires, you set fire to the granary, blinding three hundred garrison soldiers. They're still singing 'Shu Li' at the Weishui wharf!"

"Those lowlifes!" Dong Yan slashed the crossbow string with his two-foot-long sword, and the silk string entangled the drifting chalk. "If they hadn't seen the smuggled ironware back then..." The sword suddenly turned to Guo Jie's throat, "it would be like you seeing something you shouldn't be seeing now!"

Guo Jie held his ring-handled sword horizontally, the blade rubbing against the two-foot sword, sparks flying. "You mean this?"

His left hand suddenly threw out half of the silk book, and the cinnabar mark on the defense map of Ba Ling Ferry was bleeding.

Dong Yan's pupils suddenly shrank, and the sword's momentum suddenly became fierce. The wind from the sword swept away half of Guo Jie's armor, revealing the hideous arrow wound on his heart. "I should have let the ranger move three inches further back then!"

"Three inches?" Guo Jie suddenly opened his shirt. "The Ranger Wang Xin you planted there had his spine broken by rocks at the Lishan Iron Mine last month."

He smashed the bridge railing's secret hatch with the back of his knife, and out rolled a bronze arrowhead engraved with the Chinese character "偃." "Before he died, he said, 'You like to carve your name on arrows?'"

Dong Yan leaped back, slinging out the ointment jar from under his white robe: "Then I'll let you taste the feeling of having your name engraved on it!"

The jar of anointing oil exploded in mid-air.

Guo Jie spun around and slashed, his ring-handled sword drawing a silver arc in the smoke. "An old trick from Chen County!"

The wind from the blade carried the iron pieces into the bridge pillars, each piece stuck exactly where it was marked on the defense map. "Wei Guang has already dispatched troops!"

Dong Yan's two-foot-long sword rested against the bridge railing, his bronze and gold-inlaid belt hook gleaming coldly beneath his dark brown robe. "Guo Jie! Do you think the fire in Chen County only burned the granary?"

The tip of his sword lifted up the fragments of the iron plow from the hidden storage. "These pig irons melted into arrowheads should have been cast into farm tools and distributed to the farmers in the three auxiliary areas!"

Guo Jie slammed his ring-handled scabbard against the bridge surface, knocking the charred silver lock from its secret compartment. "Back then, you even melted down the seal of the Chen County headman to embezzle the iron!"

The tip of the knife lifted the "Li" inscription on the lock, "In the swaddling clothes that Mr. Li entrusted his orphan to before hanging himself, is the deed signed by you?"

"Deed?" The veins beneath Dong Yan's jade crown bulged. "That old man's granddaughter is now washing clothes in Changmen Garden. She's more sensible than you." The sword suddenly pointed at the floating ceramic jar under the bridge. "The fish paste she personally mixed is now soaking your fate!"

The river breeze brought a fishy smell to my face.

The tip of Guo Jie's boot crushed the iron slag in the cracks of the bluestone. "I have to thank you for letting me see the fire that year." He opened his shirt, and next to the arrow wound on his heart, the word "private" was clearly branded. "This iron seal is the official seal you stole from the iron furnace in Chen County!"

"Official seal?" Dong Yan laughed crazily as he tore open his left sleeve. The scar on his forearm twisted like molten iron. "That night you cut off my financial resources, this branding iron should have been on your face!"

He suddenly threw out a half-broken copper talisman with the Chinese character "轵" on it, "Three hundred carts of pig iron exchanged for gold cakes is enough to buy half of the Weishui Ferry!"

Guo Jie picked up the broken bronze talisman with the tip of his knife. "Buy the Wei River? Or bribe the engineering officer of the Ministry of the Interior?"

He split open the interlayer between the bridge pillars, and bundles of arrow shafts poured out, each one engraved with the inscription "He Yi Gong Guan". "Your business of converting farm tools into arrowheads wouldn't even cover Chen Ajiao's dowry!"

"Shut up!" Dong Yan's sword cut deep into the bridge railing. "If you hadn't been causing trouble in Chen County, all the crossbow operators in the Chang'an armory would be surnamed Dou!"

He suddenly pulled out half a scroll of silk. Beneath the Ba Ling Ferry defense map was a cinnabar-red official document from the Supervisor of the Imperial Household. "Look at this official document for 'Depending on Farming for Machinery,' it's stamped with the golden seal of the Prime Minister's Office!"

Guo Jie suddenly burst into laughter, shaking the pottery jars under the bridge and making them buzz. "What a 'replace farming with machinery'!"

He threw out a string of five-zhu coins, with blood-stained hemp ropes piercing the holes. "This hemp rope is used by farmers in Chen County to hang themselves. The number of knots in it is exactly the same as the number of iron carts you embezzled!"

Dong Yan's jade crown swayed in the river breeze. "What do these fools know? Among the thirty-six smelters in Guanzhong, which one doesn't melt agricultural tools and forge weapons?"

He suddenly pointed the tip of his sword to the southwest. "The bronze horses on the north gate of the Weiyang Palace were melted down to make plowshares from Emperor Gaozu's time!"

"So you're filling the Wei River embankment with the slag from the melted plows?" Guo Jie slammed his scabbard against the bridge pier, sending the blue-gray slag cascading down. "Last autumn, the embankment burst, and the farmers who drowned were still clutching their broken plows."

He suddenly split the dark warehouse open, and hundreds of plowshare fragments tinkled and fell into the river. "Their wronged souls are waiting to help you count the gold cakes!"

Suddenly, the sound of a xiao came from the opposite bank, and the blind old man's "Shu Li" floated in the wind.

Dong Yan's sword trembled slightly. "The craftsmen from Chenggao are now enjoying a good life in Changmen Garden, but you are the one who is doing well."

He suddenly chuckled sinisterly, "The bronze axles of Wei Zifu's carriage were made of the iron from Chen County that I melted!"

Guo Jie suddenly thrust his ring-handled sword into the bridge, its blade reflecting the "Wei" banner rising from the southeast. "That bronze shaft is mixed with 30% of the iron slag you embezzled."

The heel of his boot crushed the arrow molds in the hidden storage. "The inquest record from the Supervisor of the Imperial Household states, 'Iron impure, cracked after three bends!'"

The setting sun was as red as blood, and Dong Yan's dark black robe looked like a ball of insoluble ink in the twilight.

The ceramic jars floating under the bridge suddenly exploded one after another, and chalk powder mixed with the scent of rouge spread over the bridge railings with Vermillion Bird patterns.

"Do you smell it?" Guo Jie picked up a handful of chalk with the tip of his knife. "This is the lead powder that Madam Weiqiao uses to make perfume."

(End of this chapter)